Lhasa - The Holy City

This book gives first hand beautiful account of the Lhasa by a leading traveller. The book gives details of Monasteries, Festivals and Processions, Lhasa City, The Potala Palace, Gyantse, Phari, Recreations, Tibetan New Year.

The book is profusely illustrated with maps and Plates.

I cannot let this book set out upon its adventures until I have recorded my deep gratitude to Mr. Gould for giving me the chance of fulfilling one of my most long-cherished dreams—of visiting the Holy City of Lhasa.

I am also indebted to Sir Charles Bell, the greatest living authority on Lhasa and the Tibetans, for doing me the rare honour of writing an Introduction to this book. My debt to his own scholarly and fascinating books, Tibet Past and Present, The People of Tibet, and The Religion of Tibet is apparent in the following pages. In Lhasa these works gave us a short-cut to a more perfect understanding at once of the people, of their unique institutions, and of their way of life. I have also made use of Lieut.-Colonel L. A. Waddell’s Lhasa and its Mysteries and, in my historical chapter, of Sir Eric Teichman’s Travels of a Consular Officer in Eastern Tibet.

Finally, I must thank the Tibetan officials and people whose guests we were, for doing all that was possible to make our visit delightful.

If any of my Tibetan friends read this book, as I hope they will, may they realize that praise unmixed with criticism is as insincere as it is worthless; and that, in spite of any faults I may have found, I have a deep affection for their country, and for them.